‘Immersive’ account of coral reef restoration leads ‘What can be saved?’ series
By David Goldman, David J. Phillip, Christina Larson and Kathy Young
Is that seaweed in my hair?
The first installment of “What Can Be Saved?” – a ground-breaking new series from The Associated Press – was so deeply immersive that viewers could almost smell the sea-salt of Jamaica. The island nation was the first stop in what will be 12 installments reported from five continents focusing not on the well-documented gloom of climate change, but on often unsung people around the world who are combating environmental destruction in big ways and small.
Health and science staffers, Washington-based environment reporter Christina Larson, left, and New York video journalist Kathy Young, interview a fisherman in White River, Jamaica, Feb. 11, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
From Jamaica, the AP reporting team of photographers David Goldman and David Phillip, science writer Christina Larson and video journalist Kathy Young came back with the astounding narrative of underwater nurseries where islanders are growing coral by hand, branch by branch on underwater lines, to reverse decades of destruction to Jamaican reefs. The team’s work wins Best of the Week honors.
As Larson’s vibrant story captured,the Sisyphean task of coral farming is akin to planting a field one blade of grass at a time,and the visuals of divers tending their coral gardens in limpid waters and drone shots showing blue, blue waters with the reefs underneath were simply knockout.
White River Fish Sanctuary wardens patrol through the reef of the sanctuary’s no-take zone in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
White River Fish Sanctuary warden Donald Anderson shines a spotlight on the coast looking for illegal fishermen while patrolling the no-take zone under moonlight in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. The patrols carry no weapons, so they must master the art of persuasion. And they often meet resistance. “They threaten us and they give you trouble in the reef,” Anderson said. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Nicholas Bingham, left, grabs his speargun while leaving the home of Gary Gooden as they prepare to go night spearfishing, which is banned, in Stewart Town, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. The pair say they have to resort to illegal night spearfishing to make up for lost wages from fish sanctuary restrictions. Some fish rest in the reef at night, making them easier to catch than during the day. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Nicholas Bingham stands at the water’s edge before jumping in to go night spearfishing, which is banned, in Stewart Town, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. The warm tropical air gently pushes waves against the concrete steps leading down a cliff and into the ocean, the jumping-off point tonight for the night spearfishermen. Some of these men learned to swim at these same steps as young boys. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Nicholas Bingham enters the water to go night spearfishing, which is banned, in Stewart Town, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. Bingham says he has to resort to illegal night spearfishing to make up for lost wages from fish sanctuary restrictions. “From the time I was born fishing is all I do. It’s my bread and butter,” said Bingham. “There’s not many other jobs to do. What am I going to do, take up a gun?” – AP Photo / David Goldman
Nicholas Bingham catches a fish using a speargun while spearfishing at night, which is banned, in Stewart Town, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Belinda Morrow, president of the White River Marine Association, leans over the side of a boat while using a box with a glass bottom to look underwater as coral is planted on a reef within the protected White River Fish Sanctuary in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. “We all depend on the ocean,” said Morrow. “If we don’t have a good healthy reef and a good healthy marine environment, we will lose too much. Too much of the country relies on the sea.” – AP Photo / David Goldman
Belinda Morrow, president of the White River Marine Association, left, braces herself and Charmaine Webber, of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, from the rocking boat as diver Raymond Bailey falls into the water to plant coral on a reef within the protected White River Fish Sanctuary in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
White River Fish Sanctuary warden Everton Simpson, center, and local fishermen, push themselves through shallow water while heading out to sea in White River, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. Simpson has lived and fished in the community his whole life. He has recently come to believe that he needs to protect the coral reefs that attract tropical fish, while setting limits on fishing to ensure the sea isn’t emptied too quickly. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Diver Everton Simpson untangles lines of staghorn coral at a coral nursery inside the White River Fish Sanctuary on in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 11, 2019. On the ocean floor, small coral fragments dangle from suspended ropes, like socks hung on a laundry line. Divers tend to this underwater nursery as gardeners mind a flower bed, slowly and painstakingly plucking off snails and fireworms that feast on immature coral. – AP Photo / David J. Phillip
Diver Everton Simpson plants staghorn harvested from a coral nursery inside the the White River Fish Sanctuary in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. Simpson uses bits of fishing line to tie clusters of coral onto rocky outcroppings, a temporary binding until the coral’s limestone skeleton grows and fixes itself onto the rock. The goal is to jumpstart the natural growth of a coral reef. And so far, it’s working. – AP Photo / David J. Phillip
Divers, from left, Ray Taylor, Everton Simpson and Andrew Todd gather coral from a coral nursery in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, to be planted inside the White River Fish Sanctuary, Feb. 12, 2019. – AP Photo / David J. Phillip
Divers Everton Simpson, top, and Andrew Todd bring staghorn coral from a coral nursery to be planted inside the White River Fish Sanctuary in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. When each stub grows to about the size of a human hand, Simpson collects them in a crate to individually “transplant” them onto a reef, a process akin to planting a lawn one blade of grass at a time. – AP Photo / David J. Phillip
Tarpon swim around fisherman Oswald Coombs as he cleans his catch on the beach in the fishing village of Oracabessa Bay, Jamaica, Feb. 13, 2019. With fish and coral, it’s a codependent relationship: The fish rely upon the reef structure to evade danger and lay eggs, and they also eat up the coral’s rivals. – AP Photo / David Goldman
From left, Morris Gause, Nigel Simpson and Andre Ramator peer over the end of a dock to look at fish in the Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary, in Oracabessa Bay, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. “Most people, what they see, and why people have bought into [the sanctuary] is walking down to the beach and looking into the water and seeing fish you know,” said sanctuary manager Inilek Wilmot. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Spearfisherman Rick Walker, 35, sells his catch to a buyer at a fish market in White River, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. Walker remembers the early opposition to the fish sanctuary, with many people saying, “No, they’re trying to stop our livelihood.” Two years later, Walker, who is not involved in running the sanctuary but supports its boundary, says he can see the benefits. “It’s easier to catch snapper and barracuda,” he says. “At least my great grandkids will get to see some fish.” – AP Photo / David Goldman
Ian Dawson, a fisherman turned Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary warden and dive master, dives while spearfishing outside the sanctuary’s no-take zone in Oracabessa, Jamaica, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. “It was really sad because it changes everything,” said Dawson of watching Jamaica’s reefs die out. “It changes livelihood for the fishermen. A lot of jobs was lost. While the fish are going away, the work going away at the same time.” – AP Photo / David Goldman
Ian Dawson, a fisherman turned Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary warden and dive master, looks for fish while spearfishing outside the sanctuary’s no-take zone in Oracabessa, Jamaica, Feb. 14, 2019. “I do fishing for a living. And right now I’m raising fish, raising fish in the sanctuary,” said Dawson who only spearfishes on his free time when he’s not working at the sanctuary enforcing the no-take zone. “If you don’t put in, you can’t take out, simple.” – AP Photo / David Goldman
Fish caught by Ian Dawson, a fisherman turned Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary warden, float in a bag as he continues hunting with his speargun outside the sanctuary’s no-take zone in Oracabessa, Jamaica, Feb. 14, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Harold Bloomfield bathes at dusk after a long day of cleaning fish in White River, Jamaica, Feb. 14, 2019. The delicate labor of coral gardening is only one part of restoring a reef, and for all its intricacy, that’s actually the most straightforward part. Convincing lifelong fishermen to curtail when and where they fish and controlling the surging waste dumped into the ocean are trickier endeavors. – AP Photo / David Goldman
A woman waits under an awning for the rain to stop in the fishing village of White River, Jamaica, Feb. 14, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Diver Lenford DaCosta cleans up lines of staghorn coral at an underwater coral nursery inside the Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary in Oracabessa, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. After a series of disasters in the 1980s and 1990s, Jamaica lost 85% of its once-bountiful coral reefs and its fish population plummeted. But today, the corals and tropical fish are slowly reappearing thanks to some careful interventions. – AP Photo / David J. Phillip
Diver Lenford DaCosta tends to lines of staghorn coral growing at an underwater nursery inside the Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary in Oracabessa, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. – AP Photo / David J. Phillip
A boy snorkels as fisherman Anthony Person, right, cleans his catch after fishing outside the no-take zone of the Boscobel Marine Sanctuary in Boscobel, Jamaica, Feb. 13, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Two cruise ships sit docked as tourists visit a beach in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Fisherman Damian Brown helps his daughter Mishaunda, 9, with her homework as his sons Damian Jr., 3, far left, Dre, 4, and daughter Paris, 1, right, watch television at their home in Stewart Town, Jamaica, Feb. 14, 2019. Brown has been caught twice fishing inside a no-take zone and now relies more on night spearfishing, which is illegal, to make up for the wages impacted by fish sanctuary restrictions. “Was nice before the sanctuary come in. Was good,” said Brown. “Now I make no money off the sea again like one time.” – AP Photo / David Goldman
A barbershop fills up as the sun sets in Oracabessa, Jamaica, Feb. 15, 2019. As Jamaica’s population grew quickly between the 1950s and 1990s, the demand for seafood skyrocketed. Intense overfishing later led to plummeting catches, damaging the reef ecosystem and leaving fishermen working harder to catch smaller fish. – AP Photo / David Goldman
A bird takes off after resting on a buoy in the White River Fish Sanctuary in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
The next trick was making sure that AP’s global audience and clients would be equally wowed. Presentation was key in unlocking the full impact of the reporting. Breaking new ground in AP storytelling,the “What Can Be Saved?” team worked with colleagues at AP News to help usher in a series of upgrades to AP’s platform,such as full-bleed photos and the ability to embed looped videos,that will serve future projects down the line. Also featured in the presentation were explainer videos, illustrated and animated by Peter Hamlin of the global enterprise team.
Additional features are already in the pipeline: A story from the Amazon,for example, eventually should be able to feature sounds of the rainforest’s teeming wildlife.
Houston-based staff photographer David J. Phillip scuba dives while photographing divers planting coral on a reef in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Feb. 12, 2019. – AP Photo / David Goldman
Teamwork between 10 AP departments that worked on the series was essential in pulling together all the pieces of “What Can Be Saved?” into a seamless product that AP clients can use in whole or in part.
With 10 more episodes still to come,the project is already resonating in the United States and internationally,hooking global attention. All the stories and online video cuts are being translated into Spanish,and a customer in China is translating the videos into Chinese. Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness shared the first installment with his followers on Instagram and Twitter.
For their thoughtful,painstaking and visually stunning reporting that launched a mammoth team effort to approach the climate-emergency story with fresh eyes and tell it in compelling new ways,Goldman,Phillip, Larson and Young win AP’s Best of the Week honors.
